Daniel 6:1-28--Daniel and the Lions' Den

Daniel 6
English Standard Version

Daniel and the Lions' Den
6 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; 2 and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. 4 Then the high officials and the satraps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault, because he was faithful, and no error or fault was found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God.”

6 Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him, “O King Darius, live forever! 7 All the high officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction, that whoever makes petition to any god or man for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. 8 Now, O king, establish the injunction and sign the document, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 9 Therefore King Darius signed the document and injunction.

10 When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. 11 Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. 12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the injunction, “O king! Did you not sign an injunction, that anyone who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered and said, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered and said before the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king, or the injunction you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel. And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. 15 Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.”

16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. 24 And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel,

for he is the living God,
    enduring forever;
his kingdom shall never be destroyed,
    and his dominion shall be to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues;
    he works signs and wonders
    in heaven and on earth,
he who has saved Daniel
    from the power of the lions.”

28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

---

If there is any single story that people know from the book of Daniel, this is probably it.  Unfortunately, knowing only this story misses much of the point of the entire historical narrative at this point--that God sent His people into Exile not just as punishment (though that is true), but to be evangelists to the empires that would hold them captive.  The New Testament will point back to these events and to tell us to live as Exiles and pray for the good of the emperor and other government leaders in control of our Exile that things may go well for us and that all people of the empire might experience the LORD's common grace.  This is also an Old Testament message:

Jeremiah 29:7
English Standard Version

7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

It is in the book of Daniel that we see Daniel and his three friends living out this commandment that the LORD gave through Jeremiah the prophet, and they are examples to us of how we should live to this day.  Jesus and the apostles warned that just because we will be praying and acting towards the welfare of the city doesn't mean that it will be praying and acting for our welfare--in fact, quite the opposite is true.  We are actually supposed to be concerned, according to Jesus, if all men love us and only say good and positive things to and about us and everyone treats us the same way that they treat their friends from the world.  We are to expect unjust and harsh treatment, persecution, and even attempts to imprison, torture, and kill us.  Yet, in all this, we are to entrust ourselves to the LORD who is the one who gives and takes life and conduct ourselves in such a way that even when we die, we die in such a way that we bring glory to the LORD and His name will be proclaimed and worshiped.  That is what we see in this passage.  It's not just about a criminal conspiracy against Daniel that the LORD thwarted, but it is about Daniel continuing to do what was right and commanded of him, even under the threat of death, and he did not recant or try to make excuses or hide from the punishment.  Daniel knew that the LORD could save him from the lions just as easily as the LORD saved his friends from the fiery furnace many years before.  We'll see that ultimately this was a challenge against God Himself to see if He really was good enough and strong enough to save His prophet, or was Daniel just the recipient of special favor from the king.  This was a test for the king as well to see if he would break his own law to save Daniel, because those responsible for the threat on Daniel's life believed in no other savior greater than their king.  This sounds a lot like chapter 3 with different characters and a different scene, and it should because the enemies of God fail to study and learn from history and try to make God prove Himself over and over again.  The people of God know what God did in the past and trust that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever and that the God who saved His people from impossible situations in the past to deliver everything He promised to them not only can, but will do it again, both now and in the future because that is who He is and who He is determines what He does.  Since who He is never changed, and He is a God who saves His people, then He will always be acting in a way towards the goal and end of saving His people (sometimes they will be saved by taking them to heaven and their time of trial and tribulation on this earth is done, other times He saves them from the danger to continue to work He has prepared for them).

Now that I've given the big picture of this text, let's break it down as we usually do.  Darius brings Daniel out of retirement to be one of thee men responsible for governing the 120 men responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the empire.  Ata minimum, this probably means Daniel was responsible for oversight of 40 government leaders, but it became obvious to everyone quickly that Daniel was blessed with a spirit and wisdom that made him the best out of the entire group.  No one else could compete with him on the basis of talent or giftedness, so they devised a plan to get rid of him.  They tried every political trick they knew.  They were high-ranking government officials and all of them knew that they had skeletons in their closet that would probably cause scandal and call for their removal from government service if revealed, so they at first assumed that Daniel had the same issues, but they could find nothing public nor private to use against him.  They couldn't even start rumors against him of such things because no one believed them since Daniel was such a man of integrity.  None of the conventional means of dealing with a political opponent worked.  That left them with only one option--they would have to use Daniel's integrity against him.

They would convince the king that it would be a good idea for the king to have a month of worship dedicated to him where no one in the kingdom could pray to anyone other than the king for thirty days (a month).  This sounded like a splendid idea to the king who couldn't imagine why people wouldn't want to worship him and he couldn't imagine that any god would be mad about his followers worshiping the king for just a month.  In his moment of pride, he failed to examine the motives of these government leaders and the potential consequences of the injunction they wanted him to sign.  There should have been red flags that they wanted this to carry the death penalty--it should have been obvious they were out to get someone or a group of people whom they knew would not stop worshiping their God, even if the king passed an injunction decreeing it was illegal to do so.  The trap was set, and the injunction itself was the bait, because Daniel knew nothing else to do when he heard about it other than to pray to the LORD about it.  He opened his windows towards Jerusalem (towards where the Temple used to be), and prayed to the LORD.

The high officials were all eye witnesses and went to the king to tell him how Daniel ignored his edict and was still praying to his God, even though the king commanded that no one should pray to any god except the king for the entire month.  It was at that moment that Darius realized that he had been had and what was really going on here.  He wanted to find a way to deliver Daniel, but he though he searched the law for any exceptions, the law was clear.  The law of the Medes and the Persians was unbreakable, even by the king.  No exceptions could even be made for any reason.  The evil government officials were counting on this.  The king could not delay forever and Darius called for Daniel to be brought in for the punishment prescribed by the law.

Notice how the king prays that the God that Daniel prays to and worships will be able to save him.  The king really isn't sure and this is just as much the LORD being put to the test as it was about Daniel and Darius being put to the test.  Could the LORD save Daniel from the mouths of the lions?  That is the question.  Darius would not eat or sleep that evening.  It's not clear if he was praying or just so upset by the events of the day that he could not even do the simple things for his own good.  I think many of us understand being so upset by something that the desire to eat and sleep leave us.

The king came out at first light and opened the seal to the lion's den and asked the all-important question, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Something tells me that the king was up reading historical records all night because of him calling the LORD, "The Living God."  Perhaps he was reading the accounts of what we find in the first five chapters of Daniel, or perhaps he was even reading the account of the book of Esther from his own kingdom.  This is not the first time that the LORD's people have come up against and unjust law and chose to obey God rather than man, and the LORD saved His people--often times leading to the destruction of those who sought to destroy the people of God.  It is that last bit that makes me think that he was probably reading about Purim, because as soon as it is clear that Daniel is safe and without harm, the king orders that men who had maliciously accused Daniel and their families be thrown into the den of lion.  This time, the lions  grabbed them and broke every bone in their bodies before they hit the ground.  Yes, even the wives and children of these men were given the same punishment.

The king could not break the old decree but he could make a new one that was just as unbreakable (technically, the Persian people should still be obeying this decree to this day).  The king commands all people under his authority to fear and worship the God of Daniel for He is a Living God who lives forever without successor and who's kingdom and dominion are without end in either time or space.  He is able to save and rescue His people, moving heaven and earth to do so, and performing mighty signs and wonders to accomplish this goal.  Now, added to that list, He was able to save Daniel from the mouth of the lions.

The king had received the answer to his question, and it was an answer big enough that the king was not content to just accept the answer for himself, but He ordered all the people of his nation to fear and worship the LORD.  Again, I see a salvation moment here for someone who was a pagan king, now using his power and influence to call and command the worship of the LORD by all people in his kingdom.

This ends the historical narrative portion of Daniel.  Daniel will live in safety for the rest of his days throughout the days of King Darius and into the days of King Cyrus (we know that name already).  Some try to read this last verse as saying that King Darius and King Cyrus were the same person, which is actually quite probable.  Otherwise, the timing would require that Darius was quickly succeeded by a son or grandson after these events, because the 70 years of Exile are nearly completed at this point and King Cyrus is the one to issue the decree to release the exiles and to rebuild the Temple (we know exactly what year that happened, and we're only a couple of years before it at this point).  There is not enough time for there to be the mass confusion that secular historians pretend to have over the identity of King Darius and King Cyrus--you'll see from chapter 9 why they want to deny certainty in the dates because any certainty in these dates makes certain the dates prophesied in chapter 9--specifically the prophesy of the exact year (even possibly to the exact day) when Jesus was going to die on the cross.

Daniel 9:24-26
English Standard Version

The Seventy Weeks
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. And for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.

Just a preview, but we'll talk about this when we get to chapter 9.  the "weeks" are literally "sevens" (groups of seven years, not seven days).  There are 490 years in this prophecy and 483 of them had to do with the time until Jesus would come back and be killed (and this "age" would end with the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem).  The last 7 years are still in the future time called the Tribulation, and that period will end with the return of Messiah as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I'll spell it out in more detail later, but it was EXACTLY 483 years between the decree to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple and the death of Jesus on the cross.  The wise men knew to anticipate his arrival because it was about the right time, and they studied the book of Daniel.  I believe Simeon and Anna in Luke 2 also knew of it being the right time for Messiah to appear because of this prophecy from Daniel 9.  Secular historians don't want to deal with the fact that God knows the past present and future and could tell Daniel in about 538 B.C. the exact date of an event that would happen in about 30 AD (when we account for the difference between 360-day prophetic/lunar years and 365-day solar years and account and do all the math for leap years it comes out EXACTLY right).  I think it is fair to say that this is one of the most important prophesies for us to understand.  Many say because of the specificity and accuracy of the prophecies in Daniel that it could not possibly have been written by Daniel during the time of the Exile--they imagine it had to be written much later after these events already took place and some Jews wrote the prophecies into existence.  But why would Jews write into existence prophecies that said their Messiah would die when they in general didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah? The explanation is ridiculous, but it makes perfect sense if a God who is outside of time and orchestrating the events of time could tell us exactly when He was going to orchestrate something to happen many hundreds of years into the future, and we can be just as sure of the fulfillment of all of the events that have not yet occurred because we see how exactly everything was fulfilled that has already occurred (the Medes and Persians and the Greeks and the Romans were all foretold in Daniel's visions, and so is the kingdom of Antichrist and the Kingdom of God here on earth that are still to come).